Travelogue #5 (5/15)

All done with the pictures, but there is a fair amount of drama in this one.

15 May 2011

10:43 PM EDT, Norwalk, CT

I realize that I failed to write yesterday. The fact is that it wasn’t much worth the effort.

I got up; had breakfast; had a really good work-out; showered; packed my suitcase; and finished Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. We had dinner at Blue Lagoon, a more casual dining option on the ship. All while drawing steadily closer to New York.

Today held the real excitement.

We docked at Pier 88 around 6:00 AM. At about 8:00 AM, they began to let those passengers off who had chosen not to use the color-coded time system. After that, they began to let off each color. Luggage had been tagged with the colors the night before and collected. When we walked off the gangway we found our lime-coded luggage waiting for us. Customs was a breeze — I just wish I could have gotten my passport stamped, but it’s not necessary for "local" foreign travel, i.e. Bermuda, Mexico, Canada, etc. I called my dad as we were going up in the elevator to the passenger drop-off area.

He really hates driving in NYC and a cop had already told him he couldn’t wait for us where he wanted to, so he wasn’t in a good frame of mind to start.

Anyway, once we had the bags in the back, we got in the car, and my dad started to pull away from the curb — BEFORE Grammy was all the way in!

She tried to tell him to wait and I did too, but neither of us got his attention in time. She lost her balance and fell against the curb and hit her head.

My dad freaked out — as did we all of course. I had to tell my mom to get the traffic cops and have them call an ambulance and help her find something to hold against her head. My dad got really nasty with the cop because he wouldn’t move her, not realizing that if she’s seriously injured her couldn’t risk moving her and causing more damage. She was bleeding pretty badly, too. It was quite eventful. Fortunately, she got up on her own and fortunately, the cop browbeat her into letting the EMT’s check her out. She still refused to be taken to the hospital and I had to sign off as a witness that she was refusing treatment and promise to take her to the hospital when we got home.

It was awful to look at her head on the drive back to Norwalk. Her hair was sticky and matted with blood. We did take her to the ER where she got a CAT scan and six stitches. I also thanked the cop for his help and apologized for my dad’s behavior.

He was very upset about what happened. He takes everything so to heart. I’m not saying it wasn’t his fault, but that it was an understandable fault given his emotional state already. It doesn’t make him a worthless, horrible person, which is what he was saying about himself. No one thinks he did it on purpose because he doesn’t love his mom. He should feel bad because it was a horrible mistake, but he shouldn’t feel like he doesn’t deserve to live.

Once we got back to Norwalk, my mom left for Vermont and my dad and I waited — me for Erin and him for Grammy.

Erin got here just before 3 o’clock and we went up to the Milford mall to meet Lisette for some shopping, dinner, and a movie. There really are no friends like old friends. It was great catching up — at least as much as we could in a few short hours. I hope Alan and I can get back for Christmas.

Tomorrow I’m hoping Grammy can drive me to the rental car place so I can have some wheels, then I’ll go up to Waterbury and stay tomorrow and Tuesday nights with Lisa, Kurt, and Zach. I may also have lunch with Lisette in Cheshire. And on Tuesday I will definitely be visiting Bright Horizons!

~Lizzie